The present invention relates to ink-jet printing systems that make use of a replaceable printing component. More particularly, the present invention relates to replaceable printing components that include an electrical storage device for providing information to the ink-jet printing system.
Ink-jet printers frequently make use of an ink-jet printhead mounted within a carriage that is moved back and forth across a print media, such as paper. As the printhead is moved across the print media, a control system activates the printhead to deposit or eject ink droplets onto the print media to form images and text. Ink is provided to the printhead by a supply of ink which is either carried by the carriage or mounted to the printing system to not move with the carriage. For the case where the ink supply is not carried with the carriage, the ink supply can be intermittently or continuously connected to the printhead for replenishing the printhead. In either case, the replaceable printing components, such as the ink container and the printhead, require periodic replacement. The ink supply is replaced when exhausted. The printhead is replaced at the end of printhead life.
It is frequently desirable to alter printer parameters concurrently with the replacement of printer components such as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/584,499 entitled xe2x80x9cReplaceable Part With Integral Memory For Usage, Calibration And Other Dataxe2x80x9d assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Patent application Ser. No. 08/584,499 discloses the use of a memory device, which contains parameters relating to the replaceable part. The installation of the replaceable part allows the printer to access the replaceable part parameters to insure high print quality. By incorporating the memory device into the replaceable part and storing replaceable part parameters in the memory device within the replaceable component the printing system can determine these parameters upon installation into the printing system. This automatic updating of printer parameters frees the user from having to update printer parameters each time a replaceable component is newly installed. Automatically updating printer parameters with replaceable component parameters insures high print quality. In addition, this automatic parameter updating tends to ensure the printer is not inadvertently damaged due to improper operation, such as, operating after the supply of ink is exhausted or operation with the wrong or non-compatible printer components.
It is important that the exchange of information between the printer and the replaceable consumable be accomplished in a highly reliable manner. This exchange of information should not require the intervention of the user thereby ensuring greater ease of use and greater reliability. Furthermore, it is important that the integrity of the information be preserved. In the event that the information associated with the replaceable component is corrupted in some manner, it is important that the printer be capable of identifying this data as corrupted. Furthermore, in the event that information is corrupted the printing system should be capable of continuing operation to the extent that print quality is not diminished or the printer is not damaged.
The present invention deals with a replaceable printing component for an ink-jet printing system. The ink-jet printing system is of the type having at least one replaceable component. The replaceable component includes an electrical storage device that is responsive to printing system control signals for transferring information between the printing component and the ink-jet printing system. The replaceable printing component includes a non-protected and a protected electrical storage portion. The non-protected electrical storage portion is responsive to write control signals for storing information provided to the non-protected electrical storage portion. The protected electrical storage portion has a protected state in response to an occurrence of a write protect active signal. The protected electrical storage portion also has a non-protected state. In the non-protected state the protected electrical storage device is responsive to write control signals for storing information provided to the protected electrical storage portion. In the protected state the protected electrical storage device prevents storage of new information in the protected electrical storage portion. Both the protected and non-protected electrical storage portions are responsive to read control signals for transferring information stored in the protected and non-protected electrical storage portions, respectively, to the ink-jet printing system.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the electrical storage portion includes a write once electrical storage portion. The write once portion is responsive to only a first occurrence of write control signals for storing information provided to the write once electrical storage portion. The write once electrical storage portion is responsive to read control signals for transferring information stored in the write once electrical storage portion to the ink-jet printing system.